Thursday, August 31, 2006

Chaffee's Going Down

Senator Lincoln Chaffee, a moderate Republican from Rhode Island, would lose the primary to conservative challenger Steve Laffey 51%-34% if it were held today according to a poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College. 15% of voters are undecided. The primary will be held on September 12, so Chaffee has less than 2 weeks to pick up major support.

Greg Sargent at TPMcafe
writes that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has thrown $536,420.41 into the primary in an effort to rescue Chafee's flagging campaign. Yet it seems the more money they throw in, the further Chafee falls behind.

And Republicans know Laffey cannot retain the Senate seat for the GOP. He currently runs 20 poins behind the Democratic candidate, former state attorney general Sheldon Whitehouse in the bluest state in the nation.

Go Laffey. Bye-bye Chafee.

Comments:
Interesting numbers all round, and not much time to get traction. Incumbents look like they are in for a hard time.
 
This is sad. I like Lincoln Chafee.
 
Good point about incumbents, cartledge. How many incumbents have been knocked off this year alreay? Lieberman, McKinney, Schwarz, Murkowski - now Chaffee looks like he's going down. It is a bad year so far for incumbents.

The NRSC did release an internal poll showing Chafee up today by double digits (51%-34%), but markos at dailykos wondered if that pollwas accurate, why has the GOP sent every aprty operative east of the mississippi for the RI primary to help out Chafee. Seems like they know Chafee is going down and are doing everything they can to pull out a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Elizabeth, Chafee IS a pretty good guy. But this is about oversight. The Bush administration has gone without it for six years and it is very important for the Dems to take the committee chairmanships back and start providing oversight on these criminals. If Chafee has to go down as a consequence, then so be it. Heck, he's more liberal than half the Dems, he could have solved the problem by switching parties the way Jim Jeffords did (the former liberal GOPer from VT, now an independent who caucuses w/ the Democratic side.) In fact, I don't know why he hasn't switched parties, especially in Rhode Island, the bluest state in the nation. So what if he's named "Lincoln." The GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln. It is the party of Karl Rove, Jerry Falwell, Spongedob, Fristie, Delay, Ralph Reed, and Abramoff. He should be proud to leave a party like that.
 
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